The Netherlands Antilles group, of which Curaçao is the largest and most prosperous, was first encountered by Europeans in 1499, when Alonso de Ojmeda – one of Columbus’ lieutenants – reached the island. It was settled by the Spanish, in the early 1500s, who retained possession until the Dutch East India Company seized it in 1634. Thousands of slaves were then imported to provide labor for the island group’s plantation agricultural schemes. In the early 19th century, persistent attacks by the British and French destabilized the island for a while; at one point it
was even leased to a New York merchant. By 1816, the Dutch had reasserted control and introduced further plantations. The abolition of slavery in 1863 set off a long period of economic decline, relieved in 1916, by the opening of an oil refinery.
This and other oil-related industries became the mainstay of a booming economy until the 1980s. On the back of this, Curaçao became the most prosperous of the Netherlands Antilles, a position that caused some resentment among the other islands in the group, particularly Aruba. Nonetheless, constitutional referenda held on the three smaller islands (St Eustatius, St Maarten and Saba) in 1994 produced majorities in favor of remaining with the Antilles group.
Recent domestic politics have been dominated by the struggle between four main parties: the Frente Obrero Liberashon (FOL, Workers’ Liberation Front); the Partido Laboral Krusada Popular (PLKP, Labor Party People’s Crusade), both of which are left-liberal; the conservative Partido Nashional di Pueblo (PNP, National People’s Party), and the centrist Partido Antia Restruktura (PAR, Party for the Reconstructed Antilles) based on Curacao. Island rivalries are at least as important as ideological ones in Netherlands Antilles politics. The most recent election in January 2002 returned no party with more than five seats (out of 22) in the Staten. The present government is a six-party coalition led by the FOL under the premiership of Mirna Louisa-Godett. Of the main parties, only the PAR, still led by the veteran politician and former premier Miguel Fournier, is excluded.
In the referendum held in April 2005 on Curaçao, the citizens of the island expressed themselves in favor on an autonomous status for Curaçao in the Dutch Kingdom. The Island Council of the Island Territory of Curaçao formally ratified the results of the referendum a week later. Efforts will be made to realize the status of an autonomous state for Curaçao by July 2007.
GovernmentCuraçao is a constituent island of the Netherlands Antilles; the others being Bonaire, Saba, St Eustatius and St Maarten. The Netherlands Antilles, Aruba and The Netherlands each have equal status within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as regions autonomous in internal affairs. The Dutch monarch is locally represented by a Governor, while the Netherlands Antilles are represented in the Government of the Kingdom by a Minister Plenipotentiary. Foreign policy and defense matters are decided by a Council of Ministers of the Kingdom, including the Plenipotentiary, and executed under the authority of the Governor. The internal affairs of the islands are administered by the Central Government of the Netherlands Antilles, which is based in Willemstad, Curaçao, and responsible to the Staten, or legislative assembly. Curaçao may elect by non-compulsory adult suffrage 14 out of 22 members to the Staten. Routine local affairs on each island group (Bonaire, Curaçao and the Windward Islands) are managed by an elected Island Council presided over by a Lieutenant Governor.
EconomyCuraçao is the most prosperous of the Netherlands Antilles island group. The economy is based on tourism, telecommunications and transport, the financial services sector and trade and industry.
The capital, Willemstad, is at the center of a network of offshore banking facilities and other financial services. Curaçao also houses one of the largest dry docks in the western Caribbean. Oil refining and transhipment are the other key economic activities.
Import substitution has also been successfully pursued and a wide range of consumer goods are now produced locally. Venezuela, which supplies most of the crude oil for the refineries, and the USA are the island’s principal trading partners.
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